Slice of Life

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California man’s car ended up on his neighbor’s roof in an unusual accident over the weekend.

Glendale police Sgt. Sean Riley tells City News Service that the driver lost control Saturday afternoon on a driveway in an area where homes are arrayed on a steep hillside.

The vehicle ended up on the roof of the next house down the hill.

Riley says the driver reported he had a mechanical failure.

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The driver, his wife and the resident of the neighboring home were unharmed.

A crane was brought in to lift the car from the roof, which had minor damage.

Bird on the loose

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (AP) — Police in one western Pennsylvania township have been on the lookout for an ostrich-like bird known as a rhea that recently escaped from its farm.

Beaver County farm owner Liz Low says the birds are docile and that the missing animal apparently got free by jumping a fence.

North Sewickley Township police tell The Associated Press the bird — believed to be about 5 feet tall and 80 pounds — remained at large. It’s been spotted frequently in some woods along Route 65.

Police called the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium for advice on rustling the bird and were told to contact the National Aviary in Pittsburgh. Police say a special animal recovery team from neighboring Allegheny County might be brought in to help.

The township is about 25 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Frozen fleas

BERLIN (AP) — An entire troupe of performing fleas has fallen victim to the freezing temperatures currently gripping Germany.

Flea circus director Robert Birk says he was shocked to find all of his 300 fleas dead inside their transport box.

The circus immediately scrambled to find a new batch so it could fulfill its engagements at an open-air fair in the town of Mechernich-Kommern in western Germany.

Michael Faber, who organizes the fair, told The Associated Press that an insect expert at a nearby university was able to train 50 fleas in time for the first show Sunday.

Faber says “I hope we’ll get through this without any more fatalities.”

Birk said it was the first time his circus had lost all of its fleas to the cold in one go.

Urban cowboys

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian police and firefighters have taken on the role of urban cowboys in a two-day round-up of a herd of cows that broke out of a fenced-off pasture and decided to go into town.

A police statement says the 43 animals defied attempts by police and volunteer firefighters to recapture them after wandering off and heading toward the Upper Austrian town of Freistadt. After being chased away from the railway station, they endangered motorists by stampeding onto a two-lane highway before running into a town suburb.

Two firefighters who tried to stop them were injured and needed hospital treatment.

The statement says 18 of the animals remained on the loose. The rest have been corralled or tranquilized.